VICTORIA (CIS) – The University of Victoria Vikes women's soccer team showed why they were ranked No. 4 in the final CIS polls of the season, as the tournament hosts defeated RSEQ champions, the Sherbrooke Vert et Or, 2-1 on Nov. 8 at Centennial Stadium.
 
The Vikes earned a goal each from midfielders Jacqueline Harrison (Whitehorse, Yukon) and Tessa Margetts (Victoria, B.C.), while Chloé Belhumeur Limoges (Drummondville, Que.) was the lone goal scorer for Sherbrooke.

BOX SCORE  /  FULL SCHEDULE  /  CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE
 
“I thought we played very well in the first half and we had one or two very good chances that we didn't finish,” said Tracy David, Vikes head coach. “Credit to Sherbrooke because they came back and scored one and they just kept coming and coming. They were very dangerous and it was a nail biter of a game.”
 
The Vikes were all offence from the opening whistle and were rewarded after some hard work down the left-hand side of the pitch by midfielder Nathalie Scharf (Salmon Arm, B.C.). Scharf's left-footed cross curled into the box and on to the head of Canada West All-Star Harrison, who notched her seventh goal of the season, to lift the Vikes 1-0 over the visitors.
 
The home side did well to hem the Vert et Or in their end despite a few counter-attacks sparked by the veteran combo of Belhumeur Limoges and Andréanne Gagné (St.Hyacinthe, Que.).
 
Propelled by the stands filled with nearly 1,500 fans, the Vikes dominated in offence, almost grabbing a two-gold lead in the 41^st minute of play. Corner kick specialist Lindsay Hoetzel (Victoria, B.C.) served a low hard ball to the near post that Sawicki faked over top of but no one could capitalize in front of the open net.
 
The frustrated Vert et Or conceded nine first-half fouls, indicative of the Vikes' dominance in possession and the 1-0 score line entering the break.
 
Margetts put the Vikes up by two in the 50^th minute with outstanding credit going to Harrison who fed a long ball across the pitch to a streaking Emma Greig (Tofino, B.C.). Greig did well to draw in Sherbrooke defender Pascale Morin (Quebec, Que.) to open up Margetts for the finish and the 2-0 lead.
 
Sherbrooke's Belhumeur Limoges cut the lead in half in the 54th minute, when she fended off three UVic defenders with a tight turn and sent a low shot past a diving Parker.
 
In the 75^th minute, Marie-Eve Jacques (Sherbrooke, Que.) had the best chance to tie the game for Sherbrooke as she got good air on a header that bounced past Vikes keeper Parker and just wide of the net.
 
The Vikes held on for the 2-1 victory, good for a spot in the semifinals, where they will flash back to last weekend's Canada West final against the Trinity Western Spartans. That game will go tomorrow, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m., while the Vert et Or are religated to play Laurier at 1:30 p.m. in the consolation semis.
 
“The first half was very difficult for us,” said Sherbrooke head coach Guy Smith. “We knew we had to expect a big game against the home team but we did play a lot better in the second half and almost came back to tie.”
 
Note: The consolation semifinals on Nov. 9 will be re-located from Field 2 to Centennial Stadium. All semifinal games will be on Centennial Stadium and streamed live at http://cis-sic.tv.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
UVIC: 1-1: 2
SHER: 0-1: 1

First half
UVIC Jackie Harrison (1), (Nathalie Scharf), 16^th

Second half
UVIC Tessa Margetts (1), (Emma Greig), 50^th
SHER Chloé Belhumeur Limoges (1), 54th

Goalkeepers:
UVIC: Stephanie Parker (W, 1 GA, 5 saves, 90:00, 1-0)
SHER: Elena Waldispuehl (L, 2 GA, 5 saves, 90:00, 0-1)


Team stats
Shots: UVIC 12, SHER 13
Shots on net: UVIC 7, SHER 6
Corners: UVIC 7, SHER 6
Offsides: UVIC 1, SHER 2
Fouls: UVIC 1, SHER 13
Yellow cards: none
Red cards: none

Players of the game:
UVIC: Jaclyn Sawicki
SHER: Andréanne Gagné
 
SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times PACIFIC TIME)
 
Official championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wsoc/index

Thursday, Nov. 8
11:00 Quarter-final 1: Ottawa 3 vs. Cape Breton 1
13:30 Quarter-final 2: Dalhousie 0 vs. Queen's 2
16:30 Quarter-final 3: Trinity Western 2 vs. Wilfrid Laurier 1
19:00 Quarter-final 4: Sherbrooke 1 vs. Victoria 2

Friday, Nov. 9
11:00 Consolation 1: Cape Breton vs. Dalhousie (CIS-SIC.tv webcast) 
13:30 Consolation 2: Wilfrid Laurier vs. Sherbrooke (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)
16:30 Semifinal 1: Ottawa vs. Queen's (CIS-SIC.tv webcast) 
19:00 Semifinal 2: Trinity Western vs. Victoria (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)


Saturday, Nov. 10
14:30 Fifth-place game (CIS-SIC.tv webcast) 

Sunday, Nov. 11
11:30 Bronze medal (CIS-SIC.tv webcast) 
14:00 Championship final (CIS-SIC.tv webcast)
 
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
 
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, 11,000 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 54 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:
 
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CIS_SIC  
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cissports
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/universitysport
 
-CIS-
 
For more information:
 
Ali Lee
Communications Officer
Vikes Athletics & Recreation
University of Victoria
Off: (250) 721-8410
Cell: (250) 686-5000
vicvikes@uvic.ca
 
Michel Bélanger        
Manager, Communications & Media Relations
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Off: (613) 562-5670 ext. 25
Cell: (613) 447-6334
belanger@universitysport.ca
www.cis-sic.ca